RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s coronavirus death toll surpassed 80,000 on Monday (Jul 20), according to health ministry figures, as the country hit second-hardest in the world continued struggling to control the pandemic. The figure, second only to the death toll in the United States, quadrupled in two months. Brazil passed […]
Healthcare
GENEVA: South Africa’s growing COVID-19 epidemic should be an alert to the rest of the continent to strengthen disease surveillance, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday (Jul 20). South Africa reported a surge of 13,373 new cases on Saturday, the fourth largest globally. Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and […]
WASHINGTON: Advisers to President Donald Trump and top congressional Democrats were set to discuss the next steps in responding to the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday (Jul 21), with congressional Republicans saying they were working on a US$1 trillion relief bill. In a meeting on Monday at the White House, Republican […]
NEW YORK: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday (Jul 20) that local governments and police departments were failing to disband parties that violated social distancing orders and warned that he might need to roll back the state’s reopening if that continued. The warning came after a warm summer […]
PARIS: From Monday (Jul 20), shoppers entering the bakery in Paris where Kalil Gaci works are required by law to wear a face mask, but his customers are taking the new rule in their stride. “There’s no problem in wearing one, I’m completely for it,” said Elina Outh, a 22-year-old […]
NEW YORK: US companies are raising new questions about how they can make workplaces safe after the world’s top public health agency acknowledged the risk that tiny airborne droplets of the novel coronavirus may contribute to its spread, industry healthcare consultants said. About two weeks ago, the World Health Organization […]
NEW YORK: Uber Technologies has quietly launched a service to give public health officials quick access to data on drivers and riders presumed to have come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19, company officials told Reuters. The service, offered free of charge, could help burnish the image of the […]
MOSCOW: Russia, the world’s fourth hardest-hit country in terms of coronavirus infections, on Monday (Jul 20) reported fewer than 6,000 new cases for the first time since the end of April. Health authorities also said 85 people died over the past 24 hours – the lowest daily fatality figure since […]
PARIS: French authorities have reported 400 to 500 active coronavirus outbreak clusters but there are no signs of an imminent “second wave”, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Monday (Jul 20). Many of the current virus clusters involve abattoirs or other contained professional settings such as old age homes, he said. […]
LONDON: Britain has signed deals to secure 90 million doses of two possible COVID-19 vaccines from the Pfizer and BioNTech alliance and French group Valneva, the business ministry said on Monday (Jul 20). Britain had secured 30 million doses of the experimental BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine, and a deal in […]